An autonomous lab combining OpenAI’s GPT-5 with Ginkgo Bioworks’ cloud automation cut cell-free protein synthesis costs by 40% through closed-loop experimentation.

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GPT-5 was connected to Ginkgo Bioworks' automated cloud laboratory to optimize cell-free protein synthesis through closed-loop experimentation. Over six rounds testing 36,000+ reactions, the system achieved a 40% reduction in protein production costs compared to previous best results. The autonomous lab setup allowed GPT-5 to propose experiments, analyze results, and iteratively refine reaction compositions, discovering novel combinations that work well under high-throughput automation constraints. The approach demonstrates how AI models can accelerate biological research by removing iteration bottlenecks when directly integrated with lab automation.

GPT-5 lowers the cost of cell-free protein synthesis

Cell-free protein synthesis is difficult to optimize and costly